I've spent much of the week down at Lily of the Valley conducting the behavioural questionnaires with the house mothers. I also got to see a few patients at the clinic and sat in on the weekly multidisciplinary meeting held at the school where they discuss the health, social and educational needs of the children. It was a good opportunity to see how the questionnaire results will be useful, which was a relief given the time and effort taken! It was also a stark reminder of the hardships these children have already faced in their young lives. Having just one 'looked after' child with emotional problems in a class is hard enough, but looking after a whole school of children with additional needs with very few resources is a mammoth task and I can only admire the dedication of the team at Lily Vale.

1000 Hills clinic was as busy as ever, although as in the UK many of the patients just had a cold and looked baffled when we explained it didn't require any medication. South Africa seems to have an never ending range of cough syrups (including *medic chat alert* ones containing theophylline and terbutaline. Inhalers are few and far between) so most patients assume you'll be giving them something sugary to magic away their tickley cough.

On Saturday we took some of the teenage girls shopping (we have discovered Mr Price, a sort of South African Primark) and on Sunday escaped to a mall for a change of scene and to watch Captain America 2 in 3D for about £4.

Monday was yet another Public Holiday (and people wonder where SA's productivity goes)- Freedom Day, commemorating the date of the first fully democratic elections 20 years ago. We marked it by watching 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' with the teenagers, who came up with some very thoughtful remarks in the discussion afterwards.